Vault Review: Walking With Dinosaurs Troodon

I’m ending out this week with a changeup from our usual fare. I ran into a new line of dinosaur toys while I was wandering Toys R Us a couple weeks ago. They are based on the 3D movie of Walking with Dinosaurs, which I didn’t even know existed until I found the toys. Most of the figures looked decent, but were a bit small for my taste. But behind all the Gorgons and Pachyrhinosauruses (which is the word of the day, btw) I found one lone Troodon just waiting for me.

I say he was waiting for me because I couldn’t have left the store without buying him. I’ve always loved dinosaur toys, and this little guy is a pretty rare gem since the majority of his body is covered in feathers. Aside from figures of Archaeopteryx, it’s not too common to find a full feathered dino toy. But it’s definitely nice to see dinosaur toys are evolving with our better understanding of the different species.

I have to say that Troodon’s sculpt is pretty damned good for a cheap movie figure. While the feathers on his back look a bit angular and stiff, they did a great job on the plumes coming off of his tail, head, ankles and arms. The arms in particular have a small winged look with the claws spreading out into the wing itself, almost like a bat.

I was pretty happy with the head sculpt also. The long beak and small eyes help him look a bit vicious, and the spikes of feathers sticking up on the back of his head give him some fun personality. In real life Troodon’s are pretty small dinosaurs. They have sharp teeth that are serrated on both sides, but there extremely small. This is reflected in the figure by just barely having nubs on the lower jaw, and nothing on the upper. While it is more accurate this way, I wouldn’t have minded a bit of exaggeration to make him a little more imposing.

The paint job on Troodon is pretty good, but there are a couple of troubled areas. The figure is molded in a light tan color with most of the figure then being covered in dark brown and orange highlights. The head received the most attention with the feathered plume turning from gray to yellow to orange in a pretty smooth gradient. Unfortunately one of mine’s eyes are sloppier than the other. There’s also some chipping at the shoulder joint because it was painted dark brown instead of molded. Continue to page 2…

that weird colored raptor from the new jurassic park stuff? i don’t think i’ve seen him before. in fact, my last trip to my TRU i don’t recall seeing any of the walking w/ dinos stuff either… i hate my TRU. but as i have a roadtrip into the eastern portion of the state next week, i may well have to sojourn to my favorite TRUs see if i can lay eyes on this pimp myself. you’re are mucho correcto about not getting feathered dinos often… still would murder a family of five for a feathered raptor or a triceratops with color changing frill.

That is the Allosaurus from the new JP stuff. He’s got some really nice articulation and a good sculpt. He also comes with a repainted GI Joe poacher. There’s also a Pachyrhinosaurus that comes with another Joe. They’re a bit on the expensive side at around $30, but you’re basically getting a small vehicle and a figure. I picked mine up with a coupon too, so it wasn’t as bad.

There’s definitely a lack of feathered and frilled dinos on the market.

That is a Tyrannotron from the Metasaurs line. It’s an amazing line of figures that are made of foam board that you assemble. They’re pretty sturdy and well articulated because each segment is connected with a ball joint. Unfortunatly the line came out about 2005, and is a little hard to track down. But there are a few on ebay for a decent price.